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{{Getting Started}}
__NOTOC__
'''Welcome to the ''Citizendium'' beta!'''
__NOINDEX__
As an author, you collaboratively write [[CZ:Article mechanics|encyclopedia articles]] and help supplement them with things like bibliographies and image galleries (see [[CZ:Subpages]] for the full list of supplements).  If you join us, you will become part of an online [[CZ:organization|community]] where you discuss with others the best way to craft article content, debate project policies and development, and sometimes even [[Archive:Humor|joke around]].


== How do I get started?==
;Begin articles!
:Do you know a topic enough to start an encyclopedia article about it?  Then '''[[CZ:How to start a new article|start a new article]]!'''  No one ''assigns'' work to authors.  It is your own interests that should guide your authoring.


;Add to articles
:You can join in where others have already been at work.  on ''Citizendium'' we ''collaborate'' globally and produce better articles that way.   


== I think I'm ready to get started.  Is there anything else I should know first?==
;You can explore the [[CZ:Workgroups|Workgroups]].
:Click on a Workgrou and you can add yourself as an author there to help others find you for discussion.  You can look at the recent changes and see the articles in that area begin so far.


;Monitor project-wide recent changes
:From any page at all, look to the left, under "project pages," for the "[[Special:Recentchanges|Recent changes]]" link.  Click that and explore the links you see.  That will give you an idea of what has been going on on the wiki lately.  Note that you can opt to view up to 500 changes at a time.  You can help others out and talk about what you're doing, either on the article's [[CZ:Talk Pages|talk page]] or on the person's "user talk" page.  (Go to the person's user page and then hit the "discussion" tab.)
<!--
;Look into our latest initiatives
:We often have some community-wide [[CZ:Initiatives|initiatives]] going on, that you can join.
-->
== How does collaboration work? ==
A robust wiki is  ''strongly'' collaborative.  Articles are unsigned, so new contributors don't feel they're stepping on the toes of the previous author(s).  (You can still see who has worked on an article, however, in the page history: click the "history" tab.)  Authors take pride in their work, but all articles are owned and managed by the whole community.  We all take responsibility, and mostly we negotiate (on [[CZ:Talk Pages|talk pages]]) to a mutually acceptable compromise.


== A bullet-point intro to the software that runs this place ==
This content is free forever--so, if it's good enough, people will be inspired to improve it indefinitely.  This is an opportunity to create vast amounts of content that represents the full spectrum of human understanding, in a way both credible and [[CZ:Objectivity_Guidance|objective]].  And free!


For folks who haven't had experience with the software that runs CZ (that's an abbreviation for ''Citizendium''), called "Mediawiki," here are some helpful tips.  See how many you already knew:
* The <u><font color=red>red links</font></u> lead to blank pages.  Click on one and you can start a new article.
* When you're editing an article, you see a text box where the editing takes place.  Now look at the stuff that surrounds that text box:
** See all the small buttons, '''B''', ''I'', and so forth?  You can use those buttons the same way you would a word processing program's controls.  (It adds in the code for you.)
** Look below the text box.  Look for "Summary:"  That's where you can briefly summarize your changes.  It's a courtesy to others to fill this in, so please do.
** "This is a minor edit": check it only if you're doing things like fixing spelling or adding an inconsequential word.
** "Watch this page": like the "watch" tab, adds the page to your watchlist.
** "Content is from Wikipedia?": ''do'' check this if you have copied in any content taken from Wikipedia.
** Next, notice the three buttons at the bottom of the page.  "Save page" saves the page, closes the edit box, and displays the article.
** "Show preview": a very handy button, press it and you'll see what the page looks with your changes.  This ''does not'' save the page, though.  So if you use this button much, ''be sure'' to click "Save page" when you're finished, or you'll lose all your changes!
* When you're looking at an article, across the top of the page you see a bunch of tabs.  Here's what they do:
** article: display the article
** discussion: the "talk" page, where you go to discuss with others how the article should be edited
** history: a record of all the edits of the article; you can view every single version ever saved!  Very handy.
** watch: clicking on this adds the article to your "watchlist"; access your watchlist by clicking "my watchlist" in the upper right of the window.  Note that you can automatically add all articles you edit to your watchlist; look in "my preferences" (top of the page).
* Next, look at the links at the extreme top of the page, on the right:
** ''your name:'' click on your name to go to your user page.  Your bio should be there; note that we require a bio of all contributors.
** my talk: that's your personal talk page.  Other people may post messages for you here.
** my preferences: a huge array of settings to change (if you want).
** my watchlist: all the recent changes made to articles you are "watching" (again, watch an article by going to that article and then clicking the "watch" tab)
** my contributions: everything you've done!
** log out: self-explanatory
* Next, look at all the links on the left (these are changeable, by the way).  Beginning with the "citizendium" section:
** Main Page: the homepage of the wiki
** About: about the ''Citizendium,'' an introduction for users
** Live articles: an alphabetical list of the articles we're working on
** Random page: click it, it's fun
** Our editors: a listing of editors who have signed up with us
** Our authors: a similar listing, of authors
** FAQ: frequently asked questions (more introductory information)
** Donate: here's where you can donate to the cause; we could use your support!
* Next, the "project pages" section (also on the left):
** Project home: the homepage for the project, a jumping-off place for contributors to find information about the project
** Recent changes: a table of changes recently made on this wiki; see "[[CZ:How_to_get_started_as an author#Get_plugged_in_to_the_community|get plugged in to the community]]" below
** Help: how to do stuff on this wiki; how to use the software that runs it
** Workgroups: a growing and changing list of the groups of editors and authors at work here
** Bug tracker: here's where to report bugs in the software; probably, the most obvious bugs have already been reported
** How to join: how to become a Citizen
* For the links under "communication," see "[[CZ:How_to_get_started_as an author#Get_plugged_in_to_the_community|get plugged in to the community]]"
* search: press "Go" to go directly to the page you name (if we have it), and "Search" to search through the text of all articles
* Finally, the "toolbox":
** What links here: click here for a list of all the pages ''that link to'' the page you're on
** Related changes: a list of the recent changes made to articles that ''are linked by'' this article
** Upload file: use this to add pictures and other files to CZ
** Special pages: a whole bunch of other software functions; many different lists of pages
* For a more complete rundown, and links to further help pages, see [[Help:Contents]].


== How to start a new page! ==


{{how to start a page}}
== See also ==
;[[CZ:Home|Home, The jumping-off place for all community pages]]


== Wiki "markup" ==
 
;[[CZ:Getting Started|Everything you need to get started]]


{{markup basics}}


== What's a good article like? ==
;[[CZ:Article mechanics|A guide to mechanics and style]]


{{good article basics}}


== How to collaborate on an existing article (and how to use talk pages) ==
;[[CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians|Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians]]


Many people spend their wiki time working on pages that other people have started.  If the page creator is still hanging around, you'll have to collaborate with that person, and anyone else interested, in crafting the article further.


So, how do a bunch of strangers manage to create a coherent encyclopedia article?  It is one of life's mysteries, perhaps.  Generally, though, it's like this: you see that a sentence needs rewording; so you reword it.  Or the article needs a whole new section about something; so you add it.  Or the article has much flabby prose; so you make it concise.  Or you just know a lot about the subject and see much to change; so you go through and make a thorough overhaul. Many people can do all of those things to the same article, and something excellent can result.
;[[CZ:We aren't Wikipedia|We aren't Wikipedia]]. We do things differently here.


Working so closely with others often requires sensitivity and finesse.  You might have deleted a sentence it took someone else five minutes to craft, so why doesn't the person become quite angry and stalk away, or abuse you?  Well, such unpleasantness ''can'' happen, and on Wikipedia, it too frequently does.  But it doesn't ''always'' happen (even on Wikipedia), and it doesn't ''have'' to happen.  Polite discussion is key.  We can avoid unpleasantness as a rule because we are all committed to working together.  We know, in turn, that working together means changing other people's work, making compromises, or (far better) coming up with a creative solution that satisfies everyone very well.  The fluid nature of the text allows for such creative, positive solutions, and it's precisely the expectation of such solutions that allows us to avoid conflict.


To collaborate effectively, keep a few things in mind: look at the talk page regularly.  Be polite and respectful.  If you are angry, calm down and take a break before you write or do something rash.  And if you are dealing with a person who really is unreasonable, do not "take matters into your own hands" by cussing the person out, but ask a constable to intervene (at constables@citizendium.org).  That's what they're there for--to calm folks down and come to a sensible solution to complex problems of interaction.  They are also authorized to ban abusive people.
;[[CZ:How to edit an article|How to edit an article]] (Technical help; how to use MediaWiki)


== Introduce yourself: short biographies on user pages ==


All Citizens are ''required'' to maintain biographies on their userpages.  Why?  Because we are taking real-world responsibility for our contributions and making real-world relationships with each other.  A name by itself conveys little information to others.  To edit your bio, simply click on your name at the very top of the screen.  Authors are required to provide a statement about their personal interests and education, preferably a few hundred words.  Rough clues as to your age and location might be helpful to other users but are optional.  Minors are asked not to include any personal information about themselves, including information about where they live, but they should still give some nonspecific information about their interests and education (no school names, please).  If a constable hasn't done so, be sure to add yourself to the list of CZ authors (which you see on the left--under "[[:Category:CZ Authors|Our authors]]") by putting this on your userpage:
;[[CZ:How to use talk pages|How to use talk pages]] (where we explain edits and come to agreements)


:<code><nowiki>[[Category:CZ Authors]]</nowiki></code>


You should also add yourself to a workgroup or several ([[CZ:Discipline Workgroups|here's the current list]]), with a tag; for example:
;[[:Category:CZ Authors|A list of ''Citizendium'' authors]]


:<code><nowiki>[[Category:Games Authors]]</nowiki></code>
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;[[CZ:The Editor Role|The Editor Role]] -->


(Editors are designated as such by CZ staff after you [http://www.citizendium.org/cfa.html apply.])
{{Getting Started}} [[Category:Getting Started]]
 
Here's [[User:Gareth_Leng|an example of a biography of an editor]]; here's one of [[User:Sarah Tuttle|an author]].  For more info see [[CZ:Policy_Outline#Author_User_Pages|this section of the Policy Outline]].
 
== Get plugged in to the community ==
 
It's not hard to get plugged in to the community.  This will make your work here more fun.  But you'll probably need a few pointers about where "the action" is going on.
 
All of the following links are to the left.
 
The serious fun of wiki-watching consists largely of following developments on [[Special:recentchanges|the recent changes]] page, linked on the left under "project pages".  Virtually everything that goes on on this wiki can be observed from a God's-eye perspective there.  You can see what articles other people are working on.  You can see if articles ''you'' have been working on have been changed.  (Changes to an article will appear '''bolded''' if you "watch" the article: see the "watch" tab above every article.)  You can see ''who'' has been active (and when!).  And as a result of all this, you can join in with others!  If an article on a topic you're interested in is under development, you can add your wisdom.
 
Talk about policy and community issues on [http://forum.citizendium.org/ the CZ forums.]  This is the big community discussion area.  There are hundreds of categories of topics; you're bound to find both something of interest to you and someone who will discuss it with you (there are many hundreds of members).  If you want to see the latest posts, scroll to the bottom of the front page and look for the little link titled [http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php?action=recent View the most recent posts on the forum.]
 
To have all the latest project-wide announcements, make sure you're subscribed to [https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/citizendium-l Citizendium-L] and, if you're an editor, [https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/citizendium-editors Citizendium-editors].  For outward-facing announcements, as opposed to more internal sorts of announcements, there's a [http://blog.citizendium.org project blog.]  There's also a place for administrative notices for people working here on the wiki (e.g., "The wiki will be going down at midnight tonight"): the [[CZ:Notice Board|notice board]].
 
If you have general questions, you can ask in many places, but one place we've set aside is a certain board on the forums.  Just [http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php?action=post;board=18.0 click here] and (after you've registered) type in your question.
 
== Authors, Editors, Constables, and Workgroups ==
 
If you're a participant, and you haven't been asked to be an editor, then you're an author.  (Editors are authors ''too.'')  So, what can authors do?  Almost everything.  Authors can start new articles, edit existing articles, talk things over on the talk page, and much else.  Editors can do all that, too.  Editors aren't distant overseers looking down from the Olympian heights.  To ''edit,'' editors must work shoulder-to-shoulder with authors and other editors.  So editors are authors too.  For more on author functions, please see [[CZ:Policy Outline#Authors_and_Authoring_Citizendium_Articles|Authors and Authoring Citizendium Articles]].
 
Editors, who are experts in their fields, do have two special functions that authors do not have, however.  First, they may make decisions, where decisions need to be made, about how an article should read.  (This ''does not'' mean that editors must approve every change an author makes, which they certainly ''don't'' do.)  Second, they may approve specific versions of articles.  If you're an editor, and you want to know how to get started ''as'' an editor, please see [[CZ:The Editor Role|The Editor Role]].  Some editors are members of one of the governing bodies known as the [[CZ:Editorial_Council|Editorial Council]].
 
Where do "constables" fit in?  Well, like their namesakes, constables are friendly, hard-working folks who make sure the community runs smoothly.  If you break a rule, a constable might gently tap you on the shoulder and explain what's wrong.  Constables are expected to be mature and kind and to make decisions solely about behavior, not about content, which is the domain of editors.  See [[CZ:Constabulary Home|Constabulary Home]] and [[CZ:Policy_Outline#Constabulary_Policy|Constabulary Policy]] for more.  If you need to "call a constable," send an e-mail to constables@citizendium.org
 
Finally, [[CZ:workgroups|workgroups]] are collections of editors and authors who are interested in a particular discipline, or in some function of the project, such as copyediting or recruitment.  We know that our list of disciplines needs work, by the way; the Editorial Council will be expanding the list soon.  In the coming months, we're going to be expanding our governance apparatus, setting up many more workgroups as well as a general project representative council.  You, as a project member, may be asked to serve.
 
== Want to get to work, but don't know quite what to do? ==
 
Tasks on CZ are like children's games: there are endless numbers of them, you just need to know what they are.  Here is [[CZ:How you can help|a list of general tasks that "worker bees" can help with]].
 
== A dozen things you should know about ==
 
{{dozen essentials}}
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;13. Be '''absolutely sure''' to check the "Content is from Wikipedia?" box if it is so.
 
::''It's a "baker's dozen"!''
 
== Why work on the ''Citizendium''? ==
 
We conclude with some motivational points.
 
* CZ is fun!  Creating articles together and watching them grow to maturity is fulfilling and just plain fun.
* CZ is educational.  How can you ''not'' learn if you're collaborating with experts on encyclopedia articles?  It's an unusual opportunity to learn that is hard to find anywhere else.
* CZ is free.  People will be able to read this ''high-quality'' information free of charge.  That's tremendously valuable to the world.
* CZ is gently guided by experts.  In time, we will have an enormous body of ''expert approved'' articles.  Again, that's tremendously valuable to the world.  Frankly, the world desperately needs more reliable information from the Internet.
* CZ is nonprofit and participant-governed--and thus independent and neutral.  The information you find here will not be influenced by corporate or governmental interests.  We are totally committed to acting as a "neutral playing field" for the world's information resources.
* CZ is growing and making progress on all fronts.  If we succeed well with the encyclopedia, we will start other expert-guided, collaborative, free information projects.  This is exciting and worthwhile.
* CZ could change the world in at least two ways:
** First, by pioneering a new way to use wikis, we are giving the world a new model of what can be done with this versatile system of content creation.  What will happen if the world has more expert-guided collaborative projects?
** Second, and more importantly, a full-fledged ''Citizendium'' encyclopedia with millions of expert-approved articles would bring reliable knowledge to the world, and, in a small way, would help "enlighten" the world.  Imagine what education and research would be like with a really successful CZ.
 
These are all great reasons to get involved.  So let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Latest revision as of 05:50, 13 October 2024


As an author, you collaboratively write encyclopedia articles and help supplement them with things like bibliographies and image galleries (see CZ:Subpages for the full list of supplements). If you join us, you will become part of an online community where you discuss with others the best way to craft article content, debate project policies and development, and sometimes even joke around.

How do I get started?

Begin articles!
Do you know a topic enough to start an encyclopedia article about it? Then start a new article! No one assigns work to authors. It is your own interests that should guide your authoring.
Add to articles
You can join in where others have already been at work. on Citizendium we collaborate globally and produce better articles that way.

I think I'm ready to get started. Is there anything else I should know first?

You can explore the Workgroups.
Click on a Workgrou and you can add yourself as an author there to help others find you for discussion. You can look at the recent changes and see the articles in that area begin so far.
Monitor project-wide recent changes
From any page at all, look to the left, under "project pages," for the "Recent changes" link. Click that and explore the links you see. That will give you an idea of what has been going on on the wiki lately. Note that you can opt to view up to 500 changes at a time. You can help others out and talk about what you're doing, either on the article's talk page or on the person's "user talk" page. (Go to the person's user page and then hit the "discussion" tab.)

How does collaboration work?

A robust wiki is strongly collaborative. Articles are unsigned, so new contributors don't feel they're stepping on the toes of the previous author(s). (You can still see who has worked on an article, however, in the page history: click the "history" tab.) Authors take pride in their work, but all articles are owned and managed by the whole community. We all take responsibility, and mostly we negotiate (on talk pages) to a mutually acceptable compromise.

This content is free forever--so, if it's good enough, people will be inspired to improve it indefinitely. This is an opportunity to create vast amounts of content that represents the full spectrum of human understanding, in a way both credible and objective. And free!


See also

Home, The jumping-off place for all community pages


Everything you need to get started


A guide to mechanics and style


Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians


We aren't Wikipedia. We do things differently here.


How to edit an article (Technical help; how to use MediaWiki)


How to use talk pages (where we explain edits and come to agreements)


A list of Citizendium authors


Citizendium Getting Started
Quick Start | About us | Help system | Start a new article | For Wikipedians  
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